Gilbert L 梁敬暉

As I was saying in my last post, I’ve been suffering from dry eyes since my LASIK surgery. They weren’t all that bad right after the surgery, but once I got back to work, it became clear that my eyes weren’t ready for 16 hours in front of the monitor.

At first, I decided I would just fight through it with a few more eye drops. Unfortunately, things worsened: my eyes hurt so much one day that I literally ran away from my monitor. For days, I felt aggravatingly languid and under the weather. That was probably due to dry eyes as well.

Since then, I’ve talked to an optometrist and done much research on the topic. Dry eyes is a very common problem for people with contacts and or work in front of the computer a lot. Here is a list of 10 things anyone can do to relieve dry eyes:

1. Eye Drops

LASIK MD has treated me fairly well before and after the procedure, but I’m now very disappointed by how little information they gave me about eye drops.

In general, eye drops come in three categories 1. Mild 2. Moderate 3. Gel. Eye drops for mild dry eyes are more watery, so your eyes refocus quickly upon usage. Moderate and/or gel level eyedrops are longer lasting and for more severe dry eyes, but your eyes take longer to adjust to them. I’ve tried just about every level. I think comfort is key here: if you find yourself using Mild ones constantly, you might as well just use the more intense ones.

Read this paragraph though before you bulk purchase eye drops: most eye drops have preservatives that, when excessively exposed to the eyes, can cause irritation or worse. Eye drops without preservatives are highly recommended for those who have to use artificial eye drops more than four times a day. 

However, because they come in little vials like the ones shown above, perservative-free eye drops are inconvenient. Thankfully, GenTeal has some magical eye drops whose preservatives dissolve after they enter the eyes. For this reason alone, I have stuck with GenTeal for the past week.

Estimated Cost: $10 / bottle of eye drop

2. Punctal Plugs

These don’t seem to be very popular (I don’t know why), but they do keep tears in your eyes. The idea is to plug up your tears drainage channels so tears don’t go away so readily. I have a pair inserted into my lower eyelids; they don’t irritate me at all, so I’m satisfied.

Estimated Cost: $150

3. Omega-3 Pills

A significant amount of research shows that omega-3 supplements help with dry eyes. Unfortunately, the results aren’t suppose to take effect for weeks (8+). For the relatively little amount one has to pay for these pills, it’s well worth a try.

Estimated Cost: $15 / month

4. Hot Compress

Hot compress is a well known technique for immediate eye relief. In addition (according to my optometrist), the heat opens up glands in your eyes, helping your eyes recover more quickly. There are numerous articles online detailing how to effectively apply this technique. I just kept it simple and bought a Thermalon Dry Eye Compress.

Estimated Cost: $0-10

5. Sun Glasses

A lot of dust and crap can irritate our eyes when we go outside. I’ve made a rule for myself to either close my eyes or wear sunglasses whenever a subway trains flies by. It helps.

Estimated Cost: $5-300

6. Humidifier

In addition to relieving dry eyes, moist air helps with a variety of other conditions as well. I got this one from Amazon and it has worked great so far.

Estimated Cost: $50

7. Chrysanthemum Tea

Now I’m starting to get into some voodoo stuff. Chrysanthemum is a type of flower that - according to the people in the Chinese Medicine world - is suppose to help with eye ailments. I don’t know how many scientists poked their heads into this one, but the treatment costs no more than $10 and has hundred years of history - worth trying IMHO (instructions).

Estimated Cost: $10 for weeks worth of Chrysanthemum in Chinatown

8. Acupuncture

Putting needles around your eyes does not sound like such a fun idea, but pilot study suggests it may help. This is the only item on the list that I haven’t tried. I will do it if my eyes don’t recover soon enough.

Estimated Cost: $50 per treatment x 10 treatments = $500

9. Rest and Sleep

Once I set my sight (hah!) on doing whatever I can to help my eyes, I began listening to my body and slept whenever it told me to. For an entire week, I’ve been sleeping before 11 - something I haven’t done since high school. My eyes apparently needed the rest.

Estimated Cost: $0

10. Relax

Stress can cause dry eyes, and dry eyes can cause more stress. It’s a death spiral, so don’t let it happen. Find out what’s stressing you out and fix it.

Estimated Cost: unkown

That concludes what I have to say about reliving dry eyes. I hope this helps those of you who are suffering from dry eyes as well!